CATALOGUE OF SHIELD REPTILES. 



anteriorly and posteriorly ; under surface of tail and ex- 

 tremities thickish ; tail of moderate length. 

 Hah. Lower California ; Possa Creek. 



Length of carapace G^ inches." — HaUoweU. 



M. Leconte observes : " In the English Catalogue (of 

 the British Museum) are described E. rivulata, E. scripta, 

 E. HolbrooJtii, E. macrocephala and E. Bennettii. Not 

 having these, and knowing that the descriptions must have 

 been taken from dried and faded specimens, or from such 

 as were bleached by long immersion in alcohol, I do not 

 hesitate to pronounce them as having no real existence as 

 distinct species, or at most as being slight variations from 

 others well known and long ago determined." — Proc. Acad. 

 Nat. Sci. Phihtd. vii. 190. 



The figures in this work will show the evil of making 

 such general assertions without examining the specimens on 

 which the species are founded, and also that not one of 

 them was described from either faded or bleached specimens. 



26. Emys geographica (p. 29), add — 



h. Adult (in spirits). Head with symmetrical concentric 

 vellow lines ; frontal streak distinct ; temporal spot 

 triangular, distinct. Sliell olive, witli several rather 

 irregularly disposed irregular-shaped narrow pale rings, 

 united Ijy anastomosing pale lines on each siiield ; the 

 marginal plates with anastomosing angular narrow 

 lines ; back bluntly keeled, the keel becoming narrower 

 and more continued behind. Sternum yellow, with a 

 dark margin to the inner edge of the hinder shields, 

 and dark edges to the stcrno-costal symphysis and the 

 axillary and inguinal plates ; the under side of the 

 margin yellow, with a small oblong annulatcd spot on 

 the hinder outer angle of the shield, and a small arched 

 streak on the outer part of the front edge, com^ileting 

 the outline of the spot on the preceding shield, so as 

 to render the sjiot subsutural, thus showing a ]iassage to 

 the species of the preceding division. North America ; 

 Lake Champlain. Mr. Brandt's Collection. 



" Clemmys reticulata, Bnm. ^- Bib." 



This specimen agrees with Dr. Ilolbrook's figure oi Emys 

 (jeographica. 



27. Emys pseudogeographica (p. 29), add — 



d. Half-grown (in spirits). The markings on the dorsal 

 shield indistinct until the shields are removed. Ster- 

 num dark varied, and with broad dark margins to the 

 shields ; the lateral processes and the sterno-dorsal 

 symphysis witli dark-edged pale irregular streaks. 

 Head and throat with numerous narrow crowded black 

 streaks. North America ; Mississippi. Mr. Brandt's 

 Collection. 



" Emys geographica. Fits." 



30. Emys rugosa (p. 31), add — 



e. Adult (in spirits). Head olive-dotted and vermiculated 

 with black, with a broad unspotted streak from the 

 back of the orbit over the temple ; throat blackish 

 streaked. Sliell olive above, bright red bencatli, with 

 a broad black edge to all the plates ; the costal plate 

 rugose ; the under side of tlie lateral marginal plates 

 with an indistinct squarish ring round tlie marginal 

 band, on the suture of two neighbouring shields ; 

 legs olive-green, bandless ; webs very large, scaly ; 

 claws elongate, subulate, nearly straight. " North 

 America ; Mississippi." Mr. Brandt's Collection. 

 (Dec. 1855.) 



31. Emys scabra (p. 31). 

 The colouring of the head of this species slightly varies. 

 There are two living in the Zoological Gardens : — 



1 . The spot before the eyes and the streaks on the back 

 of crown and nape broad and continuous. 



2. Tlie spot in front of the eyes very narrow, linear and 

 transverse ; the streak on the crown and nape narrow, in- 

 terrupted in front so as to leave a spot in front of it, and 

 with a small pair of narrow diverging streaks behind the 

 others on the back of the neck. (Dec. 1855.) 



2. Chrysemys BeUii (p. 33), add — 



a. Adult (in spirits). Lateral angles of the vertebral plates 



central ; back olive, speckled and vermiculated with 

 black lines, with a short subsymmetrical black-edged 

 pale line near the centre of each discal shield. Ster- 

 num black-varied. North America ; Mississippi. Mr. 

 Brandt's Collection. 



"Emys marmorata, Wagler." — Brandt. 



b. Adult (in spirits). Like former, but sternal mark more 



indistinct. North America; Mississippi. Mr. Brandt's 

 Collection. 



" Emys Oregonensis, Fit:" — Brandt. 



3. Pseudemys serrata (p. 34). 



Shell of live animal dark ; the costal shields divided in 

 half by a broad transverse red band, rest subannulated. 

 Under side bright red, as figured by Holbrook. Very active 

 and vicious. Zool. Gardens. (Dec. 1855.) 



M. Leconte regards Emys serrata, Say, E. rubriventris, 

 Lecoate, E. irrigata, Dumeril, and E. rugosa, Shaw, as 

 synonyms of the same species, observing that it varies very 

 much, but the essential character is the dentation of the 

 jaws. 



M. Leconte considers, certainlj' erroneously, Emys ornata 

 and E. annulifera as synonyma of E. hieroglyphica of 

 Holbrook. 



